🇱🇧 Lebanon currently imposes customs duties on any mobile phone purchased abroad if it is used with a Lebanese SIM card for more than 90 days—even if the user is a Lebanese dual citizen, a returning visitor, or a member of the diaspora who supports the country financially.

Under this policy, a phone you legally purchased and paid taxes for abroad becomes subject to additional customs fees—often reaching $200–$400 or more, depending on the model. If you do not pay, your phone’s IMEI is blocked, and you lose network access, even though you continue to pay for mobile service.

This is not just a technical issue.

This is double taxation, economic exploitation, and a violation of basic consumer rights.

Why This Policy Is Unacceptable

1. Dual Citizens Are Penalized for Returning to Their Own Country

Many Lebanese hold dual citizenship and travel frequently. They are not “smugglers.”

They are citizens—many of whom are forced to buy phones abroad because Lebanon’s prices are inflated.

2. The Diaspora Keeps Lebanon Alive

Lebanese abroad send billions of dollars annually into Lebanon—remittances that sustain families, the economy, and even the banking system.

Blocking their phones and forcing them to pay hundreds of dollars is discriminatory and disrespectful to the very people who help keep this country standing.

3. No Civilized Country Charges These Kinds of Phone Entry Fees

Countries with customs controls do not:

• block your phone’s IMEI—
• charge you hundreds of dollars to use your own device
• treat citizens differently based on where they bought their phone

Lebanon is one of the very few countries in the world imposing such extreme, punitive practices on personal devices.

4. Citizens Already Pay Telecom Fees

We already pay:

• SIM card fees
• line activation fees
• monthly recharge or post-paid fees
  VAT
• telecom taxes embedded in every bill

Charging customs on a personal phone on top of this is double taxation, plain and simple.

5. This Policy Harms Tourism & Returning Families

Visitors, students, and expats who stay longer than 90 days suddenly lose their phone service unless they pay customs on a device they already own.

This damages Lebanon’s international reputation and discourages long-term stays.

Our Demands

We call on the Ministry of Telecommunications, the Customs Directorate, and the Government of Lebanon to immediately:

1. Exempt Lebanese Dual Citizens and the Diaspora from Mobile Customs Fees

No Lebanese citizen should pay customs on a phone they already legally purchased abroad.

2. Remove IMEI Blocking for Personal Devices

Blocking someone’s phone from the network is coercive and abusive.

3. Implement a Fair System Targeting Smuggling, Not Ordinary Citizens

If the goal is to stop commercial smuggling, regulate wholesalers—not families, students, and returning citizens.

4. Create a Clear, Transparent Policy

Lebanese deserve predictable rules—not arbitrary fees, inconsistent enforcement, and threats of disconnection.

Enough Is Enough. This Is Our Right.

Lebanon is going through immense crisis.

The diaspora is keeping the country alive.

Dual citizens and returning Lebanese should not be punished at the airport, the post office, or after 90 days simply for using their own phone.

This petition is a call to bring dignity, fairness, and common sense back into public policy.

Sign Now to Demand Change

Your voice matters. Your signature can help push for reform, protect citizens’ rights, and put an end to this harmful and unjust system.